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Going to Saturday night's game, seeing his older brother wearing a Detroit Red Wings uniform, will be a bit strange for Henric Alfredsson.

There are just some things you get used to in life -- and watching Daniel wearing a "C" on a Senators jersey had become a comfort for Henric.

The Senators captain's stunning announcement he was packing up his family and heading to Motown on July 5, the first day of free agency, certainly shook the foundation of this little corner of the hockey world.

"We were in Detroit (Oct. 12) for a game watching Dan," said Henric, a 34-year-old former Ottawa 67. "Ottawa was on the west coast, playing San Jose, and the game was on the scoreboard and I said, 'Oh, we have to go home and watch Dan play tonight (on TV). But then it was, 'Oh yeah, he's playing for Detroit, not Ottawa,' It's still weird."

On July 5, Alfie's younger brother was on the golf course, at Loch March, when the news came down.

"I knew the day before that he was leaving, but I think it hit me then," he said. "Then it was, 'Oh, my God, this is happening.' People were shocked. Everybody took for granted he'd be back. I never saw him being anywhere else but in Ottawa.

"When he first announced he would play this season, there was no question in my mind he was coming back to play in Ottawa. That was where his mindset was and that was mine, too. Then he called me and said he had spoken to (Red Wings GM) Ken Holland. Still, at that point, I was thinking he would come back to Ottawa. It happened pretty quick. He called me right after he talked to (Senators GM) Bryan (Murray). He said maybe change would be good."

Henric and his wife Jillian had a baby girl, Khloe, on Nov. 6. Right now, outside of getting his hockey fix and doing some general contracting while he's on leave of absence from the police, he's just enjoying being a dad.

"It's the most amazing feeling ever. I've changed a lot of diapers," he said. "Babysitting for Dan, I kind of had a lot of training camps with kids."

His brother, the elder Alfie, was a gentleman and a warrior -- rolled into one. When the guy we'll always look at as No. 11 skates out onto the ice surface at the Canadian Tire centre, when he gets the loud ovation he deserves, Henric will stand and smile, maybe a tear in the corner of his eye. Alfie, Alfie, Alfie -- the chants will echo through the building. That's his brother out there, a guy who was Mr. Senator.

"People ask how it must be so cool to have a brother in the NHL," said Henric. "I say I am proud of what he has accomplished on the ice, but what I look up to most is how he treated every single person in this community.

"He always took time to take pictures with kids, no matter where he was, no matter what time it was. It goes back to when he was a volunteer at the world championships in Sweden. All the old Russian players were there. He wanted an autograph and they wouldn't take the time to sign. My dad told him never to do something like that, like the Russian players did."

Alfredsson's brother Henric shocked by his departure

Going to Saturday night's game, seeing his older brother wearing a Detroit Red Wings uniform, will be a bit strange for Henric Alfredsson.

There are just some things you get used to in life -- and watching Daniel wearing a "C" on a Senators jersey had become a comfort for Henric.

The Senators captain's stunning announcement he was packing up his family and heading to Motown on July 5, the first day of free agency, certainly shook the foundation of this little corner of the hockey world.